Comic Book Creator #16 by TwoMorrows Publishing

$8.95

Dean Haspiel & Dan Parent Interviews

™

Characters TM & © Archie Comic Publications, Inc.

in the USA

No. 16, Winter 2018

82658 00105

A Tw o M o r r o w s P u b l i c a t i o n

PLUS: BUCKLER • MARIE SEVERIN • JACK KIRBY ON THE BOB SITCOM Cover art byRICH Mark Schultz

W i n t e r 2 0 1 8 • Vo i c e o f t h e C o m i c s M e d i u m • N u m b e r 1 6

Ye Ed’s Rant: The Only Constant in Life is… change....................................................... 2 COMICS CHATTER

About Our Cover

In Remembrance: Rich Buckler Part one of Michael Aushenker’s career-spanning chat with the late artist on his early years as fan artist and young pro..................... 3

Art by DEAN HASPIEL & DAN PARENT Colors by GLENN WHITMORE

R.I.P. “Rick” Butler: Hugh Surratt recalls fellow Detroit comics fan turned pro.......... 12

Characters TM & © Archie Comic Pubs., Inc. X-Men TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Incoming: Discussing a so-called missing Blazing Combat story by Russ Heath.......... 14 Make Mine Marie—Spotlight on “Sev”: Your humble editor visits the great and awesome “Mirthful One,” Marie Severin, for a trip down memory lane................. 18 All About Bob and Jack: Paul Power shares memories of Jack Kirby’s guest appearance on Bob Newhart’s situation comedy back in the early 1990s............... 32 Hembeck’s Dateline: Our Man Fred on the meteoric rise and fall of MLJ’s Comet..... 38 Comics in the Library: Rich Arndt on the Tales of Nathan Hale................................... 39 THE MAIN EVENTS

Above: Artists DAN PARENT and DEAN HASPIEL jam on our succulent #16 cover art, with Dan contributing the Riverdale gang and Dean sharing his take on MLJ superheroes of yore. Natch, this is a pastiche of Dave Cockrum’s classic X-Men #100 [Aug. ’76] cover.

Dean Haspiel is On the Hook. CBC chats with Dino about his diverse and curious career in the world of modern funnybooks, including his start as assistant to legendary artists Howard Chaykin, Walter Simonson, and Bill Sienkiewicz, work in the alternative comics press, mainstream forays at Marvel and DC, work with star writer Mark Waid on Archie’s The Fox, collaborations with the late and lamented Harvey Pekar, and his fascinating pedigree!.............................. 40 Our Pal Dan Parent. The longtime Archie Comics stalwart artist, today the imprint’s “classic” style cartoonist, discusses his formative years at the Kubert School, early entry into Archie Comics, and his stream of successes with the Riverdale Gang, whether launching the first Veronica solo book, helming the Archie Love Showdown storyline, and creating the Archie universe’s first gay character, Kevin Keller. We also cover Dan’s ongoing creator-owned series Die Kitty Die!................................. 60 BACK MATTER Creators at the Con: Kendall Whitehouse captures pros mugging for the camera........ 78

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COMIC BOOK CREATOR is a proud joint production of Jon B. Cooke/TwoMorrows

Coming Attractions: The wondrous, weird, and wacky world of Wallace Wood........... 79 A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words: Ted McKeever’s “Man and Tapeworm”....... 80 Right: At top is a detail of Dean Haspiel’s cover illustration for the proposed The Fox: Fox Hunt collection and, below, a detail of Dan Parent’s Life with Kevin #1 cover art, featuring his creation Kevin Keller.

Comic Book Artist Vol. 1 & 2 are now available as digital downloads from twomorrows.com! Comic Book Creator ™ is published quarterly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Dr., Raleigh, NC 27614 USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Jon B. Cooke, editor. John Morrow, publisher. Comic Book Creator editorial offices: P.O. Box 204, West Kingston, RI 02892 USA. E-mail: jonbcooke@aol.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Four-issue subscriptions: $43 US, $66 International. All characters are © their respective copyright owners. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter ©2018 Jon B. Cooke/TwoMorrows. Comic Book Creator is a TM of Jon B. Cooke/TwoMorrows. ISSN 2330-2437. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

This issue is dedicated to the memories of FLORENCE R. STEINBERG , SAM GLANZMAN, and LEN WEIN ™

JON B. COOKE Editor & Designer

JOHN MORROW Publisher & Consulting Editor

MICHAEL AUSHENKER Associate Editor

DAN PARENT & DEAN HASPIEL Cover Artists

GLENN WHITMORE Cover Colorist

GEORGE KHOURY RICHARD J. ARNDT TOM ZIUKO Contributing Editors

STEVEN THOMPSON STEVEN TICE BRIAN K. MORRIS Transcribers

J.D. KING CBC Cartoonist

TOM ZIUKO CBC Colorist Supreme

RONN SUTTON CBC Illustrator

ROB SMENTEK CBC Proofreader

KENDALL WHITEHOUSE CBC Convention Photographer

MICHAEL AUSHENKER FRED HEMBECK GEORGE KHOURY TOM ZIUKO CBC Columnists To contact CBC, please email jonbcooke@aol.com or snail-mail CBC, P.O. Box 204, West Kingston, RI 02892 2

Cha-cha-changes at Casa CBC and life’s inevitable flow of choice Weirdo stories and even Since 2010, it’s been a delight some new strips. to reconnect with one of my finI’m also proud to announce a new est collaborators, publisher John collaboration with my younger brothAnthony Morrow, and to again er, Andrew D. Cooke, with whom I join with the TwoMorrows team. teamed last decade on our biographTo keep CBC achieving the same ical feature-length film documentary, level of success I was blessed Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential to have with Comic Book Artist Artist. For the 20-teens, the Brothers magazine back in the late ’90s Cooke are intensely confabbing on a and ’00s, starting next issue, this project (in an unexpected medium) mag’s getting bigger and — that will be of interest to all who love I think — even better. Like our the history of comic books. More sister mag Alter Ego (which Roy info as we fine-tune the venture but Thomas relaunched in good ol’ suffice to enthuse how great it is to CBA back in the day), Comic be in cahoots again with ADC! Book Creator is increasing its Thankful as I am for this abunpage count from 80 to 100 (for dance ahead for me, all is tempered only a buck more), which gives with the sad recognition of those who Ye Ed more space to take the have recently departed this mortal in-depth “carpet-bombing” coil. The great writer-editor Len approach of the old CBA that Wein, who shared a day with me in everyone loved. This method is his Woodland Hills abode back in the terrifically labor-intensive, but early ’00s; premier cartoonist Sam J. I think it’s a better answer than Glanzman, a friend for whom I wrote increasing this mag’s frequency an extensive biographical essay for to gain more pages. Thus, I’ll be his U.S.S. Stevens collection; and the sticking to four times per year for lovely and wonderful Fabulous Flo now, so as not to sacrifice the Steinberg, a buddy to the end who quality you’ve always expected would always call a few times a year from both mags. to chat and share non-comics conCBC has a faithful (and Dan Parent (top) and Dean Haspiel versation — all have passed on. appreciated) readership, and I’ll by Ronn Sutton I especially want to pay tribute to do my best to stay on schedule, Flo and, as she and the unforgettable Wallace Wood while continuing my involvement with other TwoMorshared a romance that was an open secret in the rows projects (such as collaborating on Roger Hill’s field back in the day, I will include an essay about my follow-up to his recent Reed Crandall: Illustrator of the beloved friend for our Woody tribute coming in the next Comics, which will be a biography on another Golden issue of CBC, the first in our new 100-page format. Age giant). With the success of my latest project with Before I go, my thanks go to CBC #16 cover artists John, KIRBY100: Top Creators Celebrate Jack Kirby’s Dean Haspiel and Dan Parent for their participation in Greatest Work, you can be assured I’ll be striving to produce terrific tomes, as designer, writer, and/or editor this double-header issue, one with a rather tenuous for my buddy’s glorious imprint. (And, boy, are you gon- link to the hero and humor comics of Archie Comics. As usual, we’re maintaining focus on the artists na love what’s in store for TwoMorrows’ upcoming 25th themselves and less on corporate properties they anniversary in 2019! Stay tuned, true believer!) toil on, with the balance more weighted toward their Besides the new gig, yours truly is endeavoring creator-owned projects. Dino’s shared New Brooklyn to finish up The Book of Weirdo for my chums at Last Universe, featuring his Red Hook super-hero, and Gasp, an exhaustive comprehensive look at the great characters by Vito Delsante, Ricardo Venâncio, and humor comics magazine edited by R. Crumb, Peter Bagge, and Aline Kominsky-Crumb. This project is many late CBC pal Seth Kushner, can be found at www. years in the making — ridiculously so! — but hopefully webtoons.com. Dan’s collaboration with fellow Archie worth the wait, as it includes the reminiscences of over stalwart Fernando Ruiz, Die Kitty Die, is available at 100 contributors and surprises galore, including reprints www.diekittydie.com. Buy early and buy often!

cbc contributors

Richard J. Arndt Michael Aushenker Gregory Biga Jerry Boyd Gary Brown Rich Buckler, Sr. Dewey Cassell

Andrew D. Cooke Michael T. Gilbert Stefano Giovannnini Kim Gottlieb-Walker Jason Harris Productions Dean Haspiel

Heritage Auction J.D. King Mister Kitty David Anthony Kraft David Merrill John Morrow Dan Parent

— Ye Crusading Editor jonbcooke@aol.com

Paul Power Fernando Ruiz Marie Severin Hugh Surratt Ronn Sutton Art Thibert Kendall Whitehouse

Glenn Whitmore Tom Ziuko

#16 • Winter 2018 • COMIC BOOK CREATOR

GREG PRESTON CBC Contributing Photographer

Life’s Only Constant

in remembrance

Buckler’s Beginnings Part one of a two-part interview with the late comic book artist Rich Buckler, Sr. by MICHAEL AUSHENKER CBC Associate Editor

Rich Buckler, Sr., enjoyed a lengthy and storied career in comics before passing away on May 19, but the 1970s is when Buckler ruled the roost. Three words say it all: “Deathlok the Demolisher.” Debuting in Astonishing Tales #25 [Aug. 1974], Buckler’s creation, which he penciled and co-wrote with Doug Moench, ran only 11 issues, but proved unusually dark and counter-culture for a Marvel comic book, made a deep impact not only on the comics industry with innovative panel-work and stark, bleak, and subliminally irreverent imagery inked by Klaus Janson, but also on the movie industry, with passages anticipating such science-fiction classics as John Carpenter’s Escape from New York [1981] and Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop [1987]. In 1973, Buckler also embarked on the first three issues of writer Don McGregor’s “Black Panther” feature in Jungle Action. Then, in 1974, Buckler landed his dream book, Marvel’s Fantastic Four, after a decade-long pursuit, and produced some of its most memorable post-Kirby issues. Deathlok was not the only offbeat, hell-raising anti-hero the Detroit native forged during the Bronze Age. Buckler’s 1975 character Demon-Hunter for Atlas/Seaboard later inspired a more popular and longer-lasting counterpart at Marvel dubbed the Demon-Slayer. The Motor City penciler, whose Marvel credits also include “The Living Mummy” and myriad spectacular covers, has given back to his industry in more ways than one, penning how-to books as well as mentoring young artists. Two of them, George Pérez and a 14-year-old Denys Cowan (who would eventually pencil a Deathlok comic title that outlasted Buckler’s more than three times over), have learned well under his tutelage. Buckler’s talent as an artist is so strong, it has over-

come accusations of “swiping” which has shadowed the artist following a 1983 Comics Journal piece. The resilient penciler nevertheless went on to draw Justice League of America and All-Star Squadron as well as work for Archie (as editor of their Red Circle imprint) and Valiant. Long based in Manhattan, in the 2000s, Buckler turned to painting, proving prolific with some trippy, downright cosmic canvases exhibiting all over the country. And yet, he did not abandon his fans, especially devotees of his greatest creation: Deathlok the Demolisher. On a more specific and personal note, Buckler’s book How to Become a Comic Book Artist — along with How to Draw the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema and Jules Feiffer’s The Great Comic Book Heroes — became the holy triumvirate a budding ye assoc. editor checked out the most often at the Fairfax Branch Library, on South Gardner Street, in Los Angeles, back in the late ’70s/early ’80s. A few years back, yours truly caught

up with Rich “Swash” Buckler (as Lee would name him) for an email conversation. — M.A. CBC: How did coming from Detroit — also home to Jim Starlin, Al Milgrom, Mike COMIC BOOK CREATOR • Winter 2018 • #16

Above: Self-portrait of Rich Buckler, who reinvented himself as a surrealistic painter in the ’00s. Far left: Buckler was, during an earlier stage of his career, a filmmaker. Left inset: Cover detail of the artist’s trademark creation, Deathlok the Demolisher, which debuted in 1974. 3

Above: Rich Buckler’s first professional job was a fourpage historical adventure in the back of Flash Gordon #10 [Nov. 1967], starring the father of our country, George Washington. Inset right: The cover of that very same comic book, artist unknown. Below: Before becoming a full-time professional, Buckler was a prolific art contributor to comics fanzines in the 1960s, even publishing his own, Intrigue and Super-Hero. This is an ad for the former, replete with a self portrait.

paintings in print. So, anyway, back to my beginnings… That “Washington Attacks Trenton” story for King Features was drawn in Detroit and it got printed in Flash Gordon #10. There I was appearing in the same book as Alex Raymond! Was I thrilled about it? You bet I was! But it was no cause for celebration because after that illustrious debut, King Features had no more work for me. My second break came shortly after. It was a six-page story for DC’s House of Secrets [#90, Mar. 1971]called “The Symbionts.” That assignment was also drawn while I was still living in Detroit. The artwork was mailed in to the publisher, but there was no follow-up on that one either and I was beginning to see a pattern forming there. Detroit was somewhat of a hotbed of activity for early organized comics fandom. I knew Jerry Bails, and through Jerry, I met Roy Thomas. I was close friends with Shel Dorf, one of the founders of the Detroit Triple Fan Fair and later the founder of San Diego Comic-Con. Shel lived about ten

#16 • Winter 2018 • COMIC BOOK CREATOR

Flash Gordon TM & © King Features Syndicate.

Vosburg, and Alan Weiss — prepare you for the comics industry, Rich? Rich: Moving from Detroit to New York, that was a necessity back then, you know. There was no way around that. These days we have e-mail, file transfer protocol, Federal Express, and UPS, so you can live just about anywhere and still work for the major companies. But, back in the late ’60s, early ’70s, you had to be there. If you were an artist and you weren’t living in New York and didn’t make yourself accessible at all times, well, not much could happen, no matter how good an artist you were. While I was a teenager living in Detroit, my first few brave attempts at becoming a professional comics artist were done by mail. But to get those actual assignments, I had to be there each time in person. I was 18 when I landed an assignment from King Features. That was my first printed work in the comics [“George Washington,” Flash Gordon #10, Nov. 1967]. The penciling and inking for that story was done using the old “largesized” original art format. This was just around the time that the industry was changing to the 11” x 17” standard size for comic art. I still own those originals. I still have quite a few of my original sample art pages that were done in that size, too.

Here is how I got that gig: I was attending the New York comic book convention as a fan, but during my stay in Manhattan I also took advantage and spent a few days to make the rounds of the comics publishers looking for work. It was during those early treks to New York City that I connected in-person with other would-be pros too. Comics fans who were artists that I only knew otherwise via mail and telephone; like Tim Battersby, a young and very talented “fan artist” who worked as an assistant for Wally Wood. Tim was an early contributor to one of my fanzines that featured amateur comics. So we actually met for the first time in New York. Tim arranged for us to visit with Wally Wood at his art studio. That was a real piece of luck! Yes, that Wally Wood. I was a bona-fide comic book geek back then, so this was earth-shaking stuff for me. Those early comic fan days were seminal times for me as an artist. At that time Wally Wood was doing it all — writing, editing, drawing, and publishing, just like Jack Kirby did in the ’40s and ’50s. That was what I wanted to do! So it was really exciting. Really important, too, because that was also one of the earliest opportunities I had back then to view actual original comic art. Another time, along with Marv Wolfman and Len Wein, I had the good fortune to meet with Frank Frazetta at his home in Brooklyn. During that memorable visit, Frank showed us every one of his original paintings in his attic art studio! And, let me tell you, there’s a world of difference between viewing the originals and seeing the

All are © the respective copyright holders.

blocks from my house. Both Shel and Jerry were sort of early mentors. I was close friends with a few comics fan that were my age — Arvell Jones, Desmond Jones, Keith Pollard, and Aubrey Bradford. We did hang out together. I would visit them, they would come to my place, and we’d take part in “home theatre” showings of 16mm versions of old movies and movie serials. We organized a film group and did things in a roundtable fashion. Each member would chip in some money. One showing would be at one member’s place, usually somebody’s living room or basement; the next month, at somebody else’s home. We rented the films and showed them on a rented movie projector. So we got to see the old black and white serials, such as Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Spymaster, Captain Marvel, and Superman, as well as a lot of horror and fantasy/sci-fi classics like Metropolis. I lived on the opposite side of town from Arvell and Keith and the guys, and it wasn’t always easy for us to get together. I remember, at that time in Detroit, things were really racially polarized. Well, not just Detroit. It was like that all over at that time. So that did complicate things a bit. Arvell was publishing his fanzine Fan Informer and I was publishing my fanzines, Intrigue and Super-Hero. I had taken over the publishing of Super-Hero from Mike Tuohy, who was going off to college. So Arvell and the guys, we would trade comics and exchange ideas and discuss comics, movies, music, and art. And we would help each other out with the fanzine publishing. We were very active in comics fandom, too. Nearly all of us, at different times, worked as board or staff members on the committees for Detroit Triple Fan Fair conventions. I was on the staff of the first Detroit convention, as a matter of fact, and then I was co-chairman after that with Robert Brosch. Fans often mistakenly think that all the artists in comics that are from Detroit knew each other well. Mike Vosburg I didn’t meet until after I moved from Detroit. I also knew Al Milgrom and Greg Theakston, but I only met Jim Starlin once at one of the Detroit conventions. I remember John Verpoorten at Marvel making a comment about my friends one time. This was after I had turned pro and was just starting to make a name for myself. It wasn’t racist and he probably didn’t mean anything by it really, but I remember that it hit me kind of sideways. Arvell and Keith Pollard and a few of my artist friends from Detroit COMIC BOOK CREATOR • Winter 2018 • #16

were visiting Marvel to get work, and I was there to give them a recommendation. After John finished his meeting with them, I remember he turned and said to me: “Rich, you got any friends from Detroit who aren’t black?” And I replied: “Hey, John, you got any friends who are not white?” CBC: Backing up a moment, can you elaborate regarding that first break at DC? Rich: DC Comics occupied an entire floor of a large office building. They were officially known back then as National Periodicals and they were actually owned by Kinney National, which, believe it or not, was a conglomerate that owned and managed a network of parking lots! Luck was crucial and an artist had to be in the right place at the right time and right there in New York was where it was all happening business-wise. Well, there I was. And you would think it would be more than enough to be smart and qualified and have a plan. But sometimes it still takes that extra something or someone to counter the ennui and shake people out of their complacency. My portfolio was always in top shape. I made sure I had professionally prepared examples of my penciling, inking — even lettering. But sometimes even being that well-prepared is not quite enough. So the deciding factor turned out to be somebody who was shaking things up a lot and making way for the new — Neal Adams. Neal was the catalyst… no, let me correct that. Neal actually made it happen! He started out in comics a few years before I did. He is eight years older than me, so we’re not quite a generation apart, which is generally understood to be at least 25 years. Anyhow, like me, Neal had started out in his teens.

This page: Rich Buckler, a tremendously ambitious artist even in his teenage years, was an avid participant in the burgeoning field of comic book fanzines during the 1960s, contributing not only covers and illustrations to amateur publishers across the nation, but comics story after story starring a myriad of super-powered creations. From top left is his contribution to Golden-Age #4 [1969]; Pinup of the Butterfly, the first black super-heroine, intended for a Skywald publication [1971]; and Comic Fandom Monthly #7 [1972]. Below is Buckler’s cover art for Comic Crusader #7 [1968].

make mine marie!

Spotlight on ‘Sev’

A recent visit with the great cartoonist and “Mirthful” Marvel Bullpen stalwart Interview conducted by JON B. COOKE

Above: Marie Severin never shined brighter as a humor cartoonist than in Marvel’s parody title Not Brand Echh. Here’s the cover by Sev for #3 [Oct. 1967]. Below: Ye ed’s candid pic of a playful Mirthful One taken during a recent visit.

#16 • Winter 2018 • COMIC BOOK CREATOR

[Sometimes you just have to go for it. Working on a future CBC feature about Mirthful Marie Anita Severin’s late brother, John (like his little sister, one enormously talented artist), I discovered where the longtime Marvel Bullpen stalwart has been spending her years in retirement and, having been very friendly with her back in the old Comic Book Artist days, I decided, after making a call to see if I would be welcome, to make a drive down to the greater New York City area and spend a chilly late winter Sunday afternoon with the lady, one of my most favorite cartoonists ever! By the time you read this, Marie will be 88 and, as anyone can certainly understand, her memory on certain aspects of her career can a little bit hazy, but about much of what we discussed, the wonderful woman is sharp as a tack, and still as sly and witty as all get-out! Thus CBC is delighted to share the conversation, which took place on March 12 and was transcribed by Steven “Flash” Thompson. — JBC]

CBC: You’re a great cartoonist, Marie, and I wanna give you this. [Hands her a copy of CBC #13.] Marie: Ramona Fradon! Oh, good. She’s nice. I like her. She’s good! Oh, wow. That’s great! CBC: You’ll really like the interview. She’s quite a character. I hadn’t known she did all that she did in her life! Marie: Oh, yeah! She’s talented. She doesn’t push herself. I didn’t know her when she was younger. Can I keep this? CBC: That’s for you. Marie: Gee! Thanks! I’ll draw anything you want! CBC: [Laughs] You’ll draw anything I want? Marie: Yeah! Sure, I wouldn’t mind. CBC: You’re still drawing? Marie: Yeah. CBC: I’d love to do a big interview with you. I’d love to do to you like I did with Ramona, if you’d like. Marie: Sure. I have nothing better to do and it would be a good thing I would think. This is lovely. Can I have these? CBC: Yeah. Marie: Oh, wow. Gee, that’s nice. I’ve got something to read! Yippee! CBC: Let’s talk about when you went into the Marvel Bullpen. That was around 1964? Marie: I don’t remember the exact year. You’re probably right. CBC: What was it like? Who was there? Marie: Let me bring myself back. CBC: There was Stan… Marie: Yes, and Larry Leiber. I haven’t thought of that era in so long. [laughs] Anyway, ask me questions. CBC: Well, let’s start with EC Comics. What did you go in for when you first came into the bullpen? Marie: Let’s see. My brother came out of the Army. All the guys — Jack Davis — and all of them. They got into comics and, all of a sudden, they needed all the help they could get from colorists. John knew that I liked to color because my father was an artist and so we were brought up as artists and had the materials. The only table I had was the kitchen table, which three times a day when the meals would be served, so then I had to color in my bedroom. [laughs] It was a metal table and it was just perfect for me. It was hard enough, you know, for paper to be on it. Both my brother and father shared this “studio.” And my mother could make clothes. So the whole house was using the space to do things, you know? So I thought everybody drew. CBC: Where were you living? Marie: I was born out here in Oceanside, New York, which is right near East Rockaway, pretty near the water. Once the Depression hit and making money was hard, in the ‘30s, my father moved us to Brooklyn because then it was only a subway ride away, which cost a nickel, instead of a dollar and something, whatever it cost for the Long Island Railroad. So we moved to Brooklyn, and it was a nice section. My father, as an immigrant — as a two-year-old — came from Norway and they settled in the Scandinavian section in Brooklyn and it was nice. CBC: You are Scandinavian?

Marie: My father’s Norwegian and my mother was from here. Her father was a Yankee from way back and her mother was from Ireland. CBC: What was your mom’s maiden name? Marie: Powers. Oh, I forget her mother’s maiden name. It was some Irish name. My father was born in Oslo, Norway. His father came over and was a shipbuilder. But the money was so bad that he moved to the States, set himself up, and then called for them. My father was two when he came. CBC: Do you know roughly what year he was born? Marie: No. He was drafted for World War I. He was in his teens when he went in the Army. I think about 17, maybe 18. When was that? 1917, ’18, ’19… something like that. That’s when he went in. He was a kid. CBC: So he was born around 1902 maybe? Marie: Yeah. He had a job, in Manhattan, in an office. He must have had some schooling. So he had this job and when he left, two people took over his job. I don’t know if it was accounting, but he was very good at math, which is unusual for an artist, they say. Because I came along and I was good in math, but my brother was terrible. [laughs] John was funny. John didn’t like school. Well, he liked reading and history like I did, but he didn’t like the studying, you know? Math and stuff like that. He could do it. He was a good student. But he’d rather draw. In drawing, you teach yourself because he was constantly bringing books from the library and my father had two sets of encyclopedias. When you’re a foreign-born, you want to know when to shake hands with ’em in the country, so we’d got the encyclopedias and didn’t have to run always to the library. COMIC BOOK CREATOR • Winter 2018 • #16

CBC: What was your father’s name? Marie: John Edward Severin. And my mother’s name was Powers. She came from upstate New York. A real Yankee! CBC: What was her first name? Marie: Marguerite. CBC: And your brother was John Powers Severin, right? Marie: Right. On the Powers side, they didn’t have a male to carry on the name, so my mother added it to my brother’s name. CBC: What is your middle name? Marie: Anita, because my aunts’ names were Ann, Gertrude, and Marie. I took Gertrude for my confirmation. So I’m Marie Anita Severin and Anita is like Ann, so I had the three aunts’ names, who had no boys. CBC: So you’re Catholic? Marie: Yeah. And my father was whatever Norwegians are and then he converted. I was in grammar school when he converted to Catholicism. CBC: Just for your mother? Marie: Well, he was always bringing her to church and he liked it. He liked these Catholics so he got into it, you know, bringing her there. So he joined ’em. Made it convenient, you know? He got into the whole thing. We weren’t big devotional people but they sent me and John to Catholic school.

Inset previous page: Self caricature by Marie from a reply sent to an EC Comics fan in 1954. Above: Despite also being the main colorist for the legendary line of EC Comics, Marie is best known as a member of the Marvel Bullpen from the 1960s–’80s. Center inset: For Denis Kitchen’s button series, John contributed this portrait. Below: Folks probably best recall Marie’s dramatic cartooning on her collaboration with John on Kull the Conqueror.

kirby on the boob tube

All About Bob and Jack Paul Power on that time Kirby guest-starred on Bob Newhart’s comics-based sitcom by JON B. COOKE Twenty-five years ago and less than two years before his passing, the King of Comics received his widest recognition in front of an American audience when he was honored with a guest appearance — playing himself, the great Jack Kirby — on broadcast television. It was 9:30 p.m. (EST), on Friday, Jan. 29, 1993, when the comic book creator was first viewed on national TV in an episode of Bob Newhart’s third headlining situation comedy, Bob, a short-lived series in which the comedian portrayed comics artist Bob McKay, buttoned-down creator of the super-hero Mad-Dog. This is the story of Kirby’s moment in that spotlight, as told by Paul Power, an Australian-raised cartoonist and storyboard artist who facilitated the legend’s appearance, as well as the participation of other comic book luminaries. Described by Wizard magazine Above: TV Guide cover from at the time as “short, muscular, Oct. 3–9, 1992. Below: Cover and clean-shaven, with thinning

detail by penciler Ty Templeton and inker Jeff Albrecht from Mad-Dog #1 [May 1993] , the shortlived Marvel l spin-off of the Bob TV series’ fictional comic book title.

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black hair,” Power had been hired as the show’s credited illustrator and, with his experience alongside any number of comic book pros while working in the animation field, he served as unofficial consultant on aspects related to the comics industry. During a story conference attended by the Bob team, one teleplay was almost discarded. “On Monday,” Power shared, “we would have our story meetings — the read-throughs — and I’d be there with the production crew and actors, and we’d figure out if there would be any problem putting on any particular show.” The program’s creator-producers — Cheers veterans Cheri and Bill Steinkellner, and Phoef Sutton — were having doubts about their script involving an awards ceremony. “On that episode, ‘You Can’t Win,’ they said, ‘We’re not sure we can do this,’ because,” Power explained, “it contained comic book artists (who weren’t named) and they didn’t think they could do it. I shot up, like a rat up a drain pipe, and said, ‘I can make this happen!’ They all looked at me and said, ‘Alright, Paul,’ and I said, ‘Believe me, I can make this show happen,’ so they said, ‘Well, let’s do it then!’” And on Bob, which is set in the comic book bullpen of fictitious Chicago-based publisher Ace Comics, the diminutive body-builder from Down Under contributed mightily to the show’s first season, including production of all the prop artwork, being the literal on-screen hand creating the drawings in the show’s title sequence, serving as background actor (with an occasional line and onscreen credit), and — for “You Can’t Win,” which imitated an actual Eisner Award ceremony at the annual San Diego Comic-Con — Power was the de facto producer, enlisted to enhance the installment with touches of authenticity. The episode’s plot involves cartoonist Bob McKay and writer/studio head Harlan Stone reacting to multiple “Buster Award” nominations for their Mad-Dog series and the bullpen’s appearance at the ceremony, which is attended by their “peers,” real-life cartoonists and comics pros. Though an inter-company rival snags the lion’s share of trophies, the Mad-Dog crew ultimately wins the “Best Comic Book” statue and McKay scores “Best Artist.” “So I got to produce that episode,” Power said, “and, through [San Diego Comic-Con co-founder] Shel Dorf, I got [cartoonist] Mel Keefer’s phone number and I asked Mark Evanier to get Sergio Aragonés. My concept was to get cartoonists who could act and knew show business — Sergio had done Norman, Is That You? and Laugh-In, and Mel had done the artwork for How to Murder Your Wife — and I wanted Kirby.” The storyboard artist had become a fan of Jack Kirby in 1963, upon picking up a copy of The Avengers #2. “Me being a cartoonist in the first place,” Power said, “a lot of it had to do with loving the work of Jack Kirby.” Thus, by the late 1970s, when he arrived in the U.S. to work at Hanna Barbera, Power was determined to make contact with the King of Comics, and it was at that animation studio where the two first encountered one another. “One of the main things I wanted to do when I

came out to California,” Power said, “was to meet Jack Kirby, shake his hand, and tell him, ‘Thank you very much!’” Whether the comics veteran was there to do design work or be interviewed, Power couldn’t recall, but the meeting was nonetheless unforgettable. “Well, he turned up and, you gotta understand,” he confessed, “I was built like a brick sh*thouse, and still am — I’ve always been in good shape, but I was in fightin’ shape back then — so, when I see that Kirby’s there, I just shoot up out of my seat, forget about my job, because I was thunderstruck. I’m meeting Jack Kirby! It was like meeting Elvis! Your legs go all wobbly… and he looks at me and says, ‘Who’re you? Captain America?’ I said, ‘No, no, I’m more like Bucky,’ and we had a good laugh.” Power continued, “Jack started telling me about the Aussies he met during World War II and we were talking about Captain America, and all this stuff. I told him how great I thought he was and he said, ‘Why? I thank you!’ Which was one of the things Jack would say… I was just knocked out! Anyway, I talked with him for about an hour (and can’t remember the whole conversation) but, the next day, I come to work and there’s this drawing of me in a Kirby pose and it says, ‘Paul: Really great seeing you yesterday. Jack Kirby.’ I’m completely knocked-out, gobsmacked, and can’t say anything. Then I see Dave Stevens and Russ Heath are snickering — ‘Hee-hee-hee!’ — and I say, ‘What?’ Mike Sekowsky really isn’t reacting and he says, ‘I’m sorry, Paul, that’s really not a Kirby drawing. We were playing a gag on you,’ and he sheepishly added, ‘I drew that.’ I said, ‘Oh, it’s all right, Mike,’ but I was crushed. It was a great drawing, man!” (The star-studded line-up in TV animation during that era was chockful of extraordinary talent, many of whom doubled as legendary pranksters. At H-B, Power stated, “I moved into what I called the ‘Rude Room,’ with another Australian, Janine Dawson, a very good cartoonist, and Dave Stevens, Russ Heath, and Mike Sekowsky, and we had a blast! It was so funny! Scott Shaw was just across the hall, and in the next cubicle was Bob Foster of Myron Moose fame, and Don Morgan, who had worked for Chuck Jones and Walt Kelly, was our boss. Doug Wildey and Morgan took me on after Bill Hanna said to hire me.”) Power periodically kept in touch with the King thereafter. “I went over to the Kirbys’ house a couple of times, usually with Shel Dorf. I’d see Jack at these art shows they held out in Orange County where he was a judge, and I went out to the house one time with Steve Rude… so I’d go out and see Jack and I’d call him and all that stuff.” Once, the Kirbys attended a party hosted by Power. “It was the first time Jack met my (now ex-) wife, Bea, who was a big, buxom, and six-foot woman (and I’m all of five-foot one), and he said, ‘Big Barda! Is it true you women are taking over the world?’ Which was great because she loved that and knew who Big Barda was!” Power shared how he landed the sitcom job: “A few years before Bob, I was called by Anton Furst, the original production designer for Batman (a British guy who is no longer with us — he took a short walk off the roof of a three-story parking lot — really sad because he was a great guy). Anyway, he calls and I’m seeing all these great penCOMIC BOOK CREATOR • Winter 2018 • #16

cil drawings… and I said, ‘What’s this?’ And he said, ‘The secret Michael Jackson project.’ I went, ‘Oh, bullsh*t! This is the next Batman movie! You’re going to have Michael Jackson as the Riddler!’ They laugh and go, ‘Oh, no, no, no!’ I said, ‘Don’t f*cking come with the raw prawn with me!’ So I was cracking them up. And at this stage I wasn’t bothered whether I got the job or not, and just having a nice time. They said, ‘No, no, seriously, this is what it is.’ I said, ‘Awright, awright. Have it your way. I’m up for it.’ They said, ‘Well, we like your work,’ because I had showed them my storyboards for Predator and they liked

Above: Bob Newhart and Jack Kirby on the set of Bob. Below: First row from left is Jack Kirby, Paul Power, Jim Lee, Bob Newhart, and Mell Lazarus. Second row, from left is Sergio Aragonés, Mel Keefer, Bob Kane, and Marc Silvestri. The artists all appeared in the award ceremony sequence in the Jan. 29, 1993, episode of Bob entitled “You Can’t Win.”

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My longtime bromance with Dean Edmund Haspiel stretches back to the late ’90s, when I met the Big Apple-born comics creator at some convention, likely the San Diego show. Gregarious, affectionate, and deplorably enthusiastic, the cartoonist is one of those rare birds able to perch between the mainstream and alternative scenes, whether as artist on the Startling Stories: The Thing mini-series for Marvel, as creator of Billy Dogma, “the World’s Last Romantic Anti-Hero,” or as artist-collaborator with the late, great Harvey Pekar on the graphic novel, The Quitter. Of course, in recent years, Dino is known for his partnership with celebrated comics scribe Mark Waid on oldtime Archie Comics’ super-hero The Fox, of which the pair produced two memorable, highly entertaining mini-series starring the floppy-eared, uni-suited acrobatic character, Freak Magnet [2013] and Fox Hunt [’15]. He is also constantly working on many projects, whether creator-owned hero The Red Hook, or plays, or even a TV show. This all-too brief conversation took place via Skype on Aug. 7, 2017, and was amended and corrected by Dean. The career of the writer/ artist, who has worked in the field since the ’80s assisting Bill Sienkiewicz, Howard Chaykin, and Walter Simonson, is, to our great regret, given too little space here and he is eminently deserving of a much more comprehensive chat. Still, we’re delighted to include Dino in this issue. Love ya, man! You do Brooklyn proud! —JBC

Comic Book Creator: Did you have creative people in your family, Dean? Dean Haspiel: Yes. My father always sketched and drew things, though not professionally. But he knew how to draw and he never pursued it. Still, whenever he had a pen in his hand, once in a while he would draw a little something and that always impressed me. But he went on to become a writer, with three books about Marilyn Monroe to his credit. The first book was about his friendship with Marilyn during the last eight years of her life. He met her when he was 16, a kid who left his family, lived on the streets at one point, re-started his own life, and during those hard times, meets an angel that greatly impacted his life and world view. And that angel was Marilyn Monroe. They established a mutual friendship. Later on he wrote articles about Hollywood and blonde bombshells for Films in Review and other magazines, and then ultimately got a book deal, and wrote about his experiences with Marilyn. He’s also an expert regarding Marilyn. Larry King has interviewed him and he’s been on other TV shows. He’s in documentary films about Marilyn, and the BBC has come to him. Folks from Japan have reached out to him… I mean, from all over the place. CBC: Wow. Dean: So he’s an authority on Marilyn Monroe. And he’s the one who is very respectful about Marilyn because that’s how he feels about her. So there was a lot of Marilyn Monroe in my life, growing up. My mother, who hails from Gross Pointe, Michigan, was working in some capacity in the theater scene during her college years, and she befriended the actress Shelley Winters in the mid-1960s, who was in some production, I believe, in Michigan. Shelley became friendly with my mom, and my mom wanted to visit New York City and that’s where Shelley introduced my mother to my father, and eventually they got married and had kids, and Shelley became my godmother. So I’m on planet Earth because of Shelley Winters! [Jon laughs] My mother got a job as a secretary at the New York State Council of the Arts, and eventually became deputy director and worked there for 30 years. She was creative by helping the arts — you know, film, dance, art, poetry, theater, and all that stuff. She’s a very good writer herself, but I don’t think she would ever consider herself an artist. Nonetheless, I grew up in a very creative, boisterous family. I know there’s a term called A-type personality. I would hazard that both my parents had A-type personality qualities that were obviously passed on to me in some ways, even though I sometimes feel shy, I try to punch through that by just letting my flaws stand out before you, because being vulnerable is what connects us, I believe. I came to understand that later in life. I came to understand that after befriending and collaborating with author Jonathan Ames, I realized that one of his go-tos, what he does thematically, is he makes himself vulnerable to a situation, and to the reader so that the reader or the environment can open up to letting something happen. And not necessarily judging it, either, you know? Also, working with Harvey Pekar, I discovered one of the things he did was he observed. He listened. He would jot down what people were saying and doing and that would make up the bulk of his stories. Obviously, the man had his own opinions, but a lot of his stories are just revealing character. And those were the kinds of things I think I adopted from collaborating with Jonathan Ames, Harvey Pekar, and other authors, of course. And that kind

Interview Conducted by

Jon B. Cooke Transcription by Steven Tice Portrait Photography by Kendall Whitehouse COMIC BOOK CREATOR • Winter 2018 • #16

This page: Bottom left inset is Harvey Pekar caricature cover detail from American Splendor: Another Dollar [Jan. 2009]. Left is Haspiel’s Brooklyn-based hero, The Red Hook.

Previous page: Top center is vignette of Dean Haspiel’s rendition of The Fox. Middle right inset is Dino at Wizard World Philadelphia in 2015. Bottom left is Billy Dogma vignette from the cover of Keyhole #3 [Jan. 1997]. 41

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You have to hand it to mainstay Archie Comics contributor Dan Parent, a constant presence at comic book conventions nationwide. He’s a relentless self-promoter, whether hawking his commissions or pushing the cartoonist’s creator-owned properties, The Carneys and his ongoing collaboration with fellow Archie stalwart Fernando Ruiz, Die Kitty Die. Notably, for his creation of Kevin Keller, a recent addition to the Riverdale gang and the first openly gay character in the series, Dan received the “Outstanding Comic Book” award from the civil rights organization, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) in 2013. The artist/ writer, currently drawing the “all-new classic” series, Your Pal Archie, was interviewed by phone on July 28, 2017.

Veronica, Kevin Keller, Your Pal Archie TM & © Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Kitty Ravencraft TM & © Dan Parent & Fernando Ruiz.

Chatting with the Archie Comics “classic” cartoonist about his favorite Riverdale girl, Kubert School training, his creator-owned Die Kitty Die, and bringing Kevin Keller to life in the Archie universe!

Comic Book Creator: Are there any other artists in your family, Dan? Dan Parent: No, not really. My mom had an artistic flair, but she never pursued it. I was really the only one who pursued it professionally. CBC: Do you have brothers or sisters? Dan: I do. I have a sister, Pam, who I call Mi-Mi. She’s a year younger than me. CBC: Where are you from? Dan: West Burke , Vermont, a small town in the northeast part of the state. I was also born in Vermont. CBC: You grew up there? Dan: Yes, I grew up in Vermont for most of my childhood. I was also raised in Connecticut for a period of time when my parents moved there, but we moved back to Vermont before I hit high school. So, I’m pretty much a Vermonter, raised in a pretty rural area. CBC: What was it like? Dan: Well, it’s pretty much 10 miles to go to any kind of store, and the school was about 10 miles away. So, there was no going out of the house and walking to the store kind of thing. But it was good. I didn’t enjoy it at the time, but now I appreciate it more. CBC: Did you go to high school there? Dan: I did. CBC: How many people in your class? Dan: I know I graduated with 120 people. Is that a lot or not? CBC: No, I don’t think so. Dan: I think there were 600 in the whole high school, but keep in mind this

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was the whole county, basically. CBC: Was it a pretty typical upbringing? You were into TV, music, and pop culture — that kind of stuff? Dan: That’s right. I was really into the TV big time and grew up watching a lot. I was big into reruns like Leave It To Beaver, The Brady Bunch, I Love Lucy, that kind of thing. Anything pop culture, really. CBC: And when did comic books come into the picture? Dan: Comics came into play when I was five, when mom was cleaning houses and she would have to bring me along with her when she was working. Just to keep me quiet or entertained, she started buying me comics. At the time, I think they were 15¢, so she’d buy six comics for a dollar and I would just reread them over and over again. She started me out on Harvey Comics and Archie. Those were definitely my first interests (though Harvey probably more so). CBC: And did you graduate to the other imprints at all, Marvel and DC? Dan: Yes. When I was probably eight or nine years old, I started getting interested in the super-hero comics, and I was definitely more of a DC guy. I was really into Superman and Batman, and I really enjoyed Justice League of America. Once I got to be 11 or 12, The Legion of Super-Heroes was my favorite, totally. CBC: How come? Dan: Why was that? What I liked about it is it was Superboy with the Legion of Super-Heroes. I liked that whole dynamic. I loved Superman a lot, so then I followed the whole Superboy thing into the Legion. I think it was because it was such a weird variety of